


Mechonis Mission Zero

by Ryeaugla



Series: Super Smash Chronicles [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening, Metroid Series, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Super Smash Brothers, Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Anime Logic, Gen, Girl Power, Kidnapping, Rescue Missions, Robots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5475644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryeaugla/pseuds/Ryeaugla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin's shut himself down due to the amount of damage his body had taken during his previous adventure in Ylisse. To save him, he will need new parts made from metal found only on Mechonis. However, Mechonis is still a war zone, and it will be very dangerous even for experienced warriors due to the numbers of dangerous Mechon there. Can Robin be saved before his body shuts off for good?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Organizing the Rescue Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reflet's determined to take on the Mechon by herself even though she knows about what happened to Robin when he fought against the Mechon. Can she be talked out of essentially going on a suicide mission?

"So you want me to go head first into a dangerous war zone to find metal for a new body to save your dying boyfriend..." Samus had crossed her arms and was staring incredulously at the blond haired teenager who was propositioning to her to help him. The magenta-eyed seer sighed and hung his head.

"I would do it myself in a heartbeat, but I'm on house arrest." As if to prove it, Shulk showed the bounty huntress a black bangle that was firmly attached to his left wrist. "This band ensures that I can't use the portals. I wouldn't be asking you about this if I was capable of doing it myself. I'm only asking you because I know you can handle the Mechon. You helped me defeat Obsidian Face as well as scrapped a bunch of Mechon that were antagonizing you. So please... I don't want Robin to die. This is his only hope... How many favours do I ask of you anyway?"

"You've asked me for quite a few things, actually." Samus turned around as if she was going to leave. "I came here to participate in a fighting tournament. I'm not here to play fetch quest for every person who asks me for help." She didn't need to turn back to figure out how dejected Shulk probably looked after being told off. Before she could walk away, the Monado wielder tried one last appeal, taking a completely different approach this time.

"...If you don't go, Reflet will be going by herself." This was enough for the blond female to turn around and give Shulk the time of day again.

"...What? Reflet?"

"She's already agreed to go for her counterpart's sake." Shulk's voice had grown serious. "Nobody has been able to talk her out of it despite how dangerous it will be. Considering what happened to Robin when he was left alone on Bionis, I'm terrified that she might end up dying too, especially when she'll be dealing with more Mechon than Robin did." The bounty huntress frowned.

"She's practically going on a suicide mission if she's planning to go alone." Samus replied, fists beginning to curl. "Master Hand can't possibly let her go alone! She's a queen! She can't just go waltzing away to a war-torn world and put herself in danger! What will the people of Iris say if they find out their queen died trying to save a man from a different realm just because he's her counterpart?"

"That's nearly word for word what I told her!" Shulk gesticulated back. "I said she needed to think about her people more than herself. After all, Lucina hasn't been born yet! If Reflet dies, Lucina will disappear! It'll be exactly the same thing that happened to Robin's daughter!"

"...Wait, what was that about Robin having a daughter?" Samus raised an eyebrow. This was news to her. A hand flew to Shulk's face. He forgot that not everybody was in the know about what happened to Robin before he came to the mansion. Now he had to explain the male tactician's backstory whether Robin wanted the Metroid hunter to know or not. With a sigh, the seer continued, voice having dropped in intensity as he started his explanation.

"Believe it or not, Robin used to be married to a woman back when he was still serving as Chrom's tactician in Ylisse." He regaled. "I don't know anything about the woman he was married to, but apparently she was smart and resourceful like him. Much like the Lucina we both know, Robin and his wife's daughter, who had the name Morgan, came from the future to help with fighting the threat from his realm. But one day, Robin made a miscalculation in the middle of a battle. He would have died if it weren't for his wife throwing herself in front of him to take a fatal blow for him. Morgan had been fighting by their side. After her mother died, poor Morgan started screaming in agony as her very existence was erased due to the fact that she hadn't actually been born in this timeline yet... It was a traumatizing experience for Robin."

"That explains why he's been so protective of you, even when you weren't being the most sensible." Samus mused aloud. Shulk winced visibly when she brought that up. "More importantly though, you don't want Lucina to disappear. To be fair, I don't think any of us would - Master Hand especially so due to Lucina being a tournament participant. Perhaps I should go try to talk some sense into Reflet." Once again Samus started to walk away, but Shulk didn't try to stop her this time. Instead, he just nodded his head and mused aloud to himself while he watched the bounty huntress leave.

"If you can convince Reflet to not go, you've accomplished what I could not."

* * *

The Queen of Iris didn't exactly carry herself like royalty. Reflet always had her hair tied up in twin pigtails, and even then she usually had her hood up over her head. Not only that, but she was constantly sitting around different places with her nose in a book, often straining to look past her own hair or the hood of her cloak while doing so. Her outfit was the same one that she had worn ever since she had awakened on the side of the road and was helped to her feet by Chrom, not even opting to replace said cloak with one that was much fancier and befitting of a queen. Most Smashers weren't even aware that Reflet was royalty, assuming that she was just a simple tactician like her male counterpart. Perhaps even Reflet herself didn't remember most of the time that she was supposed to be a queen, and her insistence to go to Mechonis for her male counterpart's sake was a pretty solid piece of evidence toward this assumption. Therefore, one of the first things that Samus said to Reflet upon finding and confronting the long haired tactician was exactly that.

"You are a queen, Reflet!" Samus had both of her hands on her hips as she stared down at the tactician. The bounty huntress was over a head taller than the Queen of Iris, and thus she had to bend forward slightly so she wasn't towering so far over Reflet. Nonetheless, the white haired woman still frowned and shouted back as if she wasn't dealing with somebody whose bosom her eyes were just about on par with standing normally.

"Not you too! Why does that matter anyway?" Reflet snapped back. "I'm not going to just let Robin die again! He needs my help! I already got this spiel from Shulk and a bunch of other people!" It was taking all of Samus' self control to not roll her eyes. Instead, she just narrowed her gaze before replying.

"And just how do you expect to deal with any Mechon that might find you while you're looking for the materials to save Robin?" Samus asked. "Did you think about that? Robin's run-in with Mechon back when he died last time proved that your tomes aren't as effective as you think they are. Neither is your Levin Sword." Not one to admit she hadn't thought something through, Reflet curled her hands into fists and leaned forward before giving her answer.

"I won't get caught!" She barked. "I've done research on the Mechon using books from Shulk's universe in preparation for this! They have a limited area in front of their optics receivers that will register an object within! All I have to do is stay out of the sight range of the Mechon and I can just slip by them. Simple as that~" Samus didn't look like she was very impressed with Reflet's plan.

"That's only going to get you so far." The bounty huntress stood up straight again and folded her arms while speaking. "Eventually you're going to run across an area where you won't be able to progress without catching the attention of at least one Mechon. There may be a sizable group of them gathered in a small area, each covering the blind spots in the others' sight lines, all protecting the way to progress through to where you need to go. What will you do then?"

"Well, I..."

"Does the genius tactician have a plan to deal with that?" Samus was trying not to smirk, but the pleasure of besting Iris' finest tactician in something that required some strategy was plenty obvious in the tone of her voice. If there was an object in Reflet's hands, she probably would have thrown it at the woman towering over her. Thankfully, her hands were empty right now, and thus she was forced to be a bit more civil in response to the very obvious teasing that was going on - but not by much.

"You're incorrigible." Reflet hissed. "Did Shulk send you to try to talk me out of going? Nice try, but it's not working. I'm still going for Robin's sake." All attempts to hide what Samus was really thinking about this situation went out the window just then as she promptly facepalmed at that moment in response to Reflet's insistence despite her attempt to talk the tactician out of her stupid decision. A second later, Samus shook her head as a stoic look came back to her face. The blonde woman's plan had changed on the spot.

"No, I'm not trying to talk you out of going." This response caused Reflet to double take as her scowl quickly transformed into a confused stare.

"...All of that and you're not actually talking me out of going?"

"That's correct."

"Then what in Naga's name are you trying to do, Samus?"

"I'm trying to convince you to bring me along with you." Reflet practically jumped back a step in surprise.

"W-wait, you want to come with me to Mechonis?!" She spluttered in disbelief. A slight smirk found its way to Samus' face again.

"Somebody has to bring you back home here safe and sound, and it sure isn't going to be Shulk." There were a few seconds of pause before Reflet understood Samus' intention behind that sentence and immediately started barking at her again.

"Oh, come on!" Reflet yelled. "I'm not a headstrong fool trying to go into battle using a log picked up off the ground to fight with! I am the Grandmaster Tactician of Iris!"

"So is Robin, and look at what happened to him." Samus replied calmly. "It's enough stress for Master Hand to deal with one of his Smashers being turned into a Mechon. Do you seriously want him to deal with you also being given a metal body? What if whoever turned Robin into a Mechon doesn't even give you that option and just lets you rot? You don't have a strong connection to Shulk like Robin does. Not only that, but whatever sicko did that to him also tried to control Robin so that he would kill Shulk. Remember, I was there. I fought Obsidian Face as well as several other Mechon and I saved Shulk's sorry butt. Do you seriously want that to happen to you?"

"Hold up... You've actually fought Mechon before?" Reflet seemed to be caught up on that particular point and was unintentionally dodging the question that had been given to her. Giving a slight shrug, Samus decided to entertain the tactician's question rather than press her own inquiry further.

"Yep. Fought off about half a dozen of them at once." She stated. "Of course, I had Pikachu with me, and he was a big help with his electricity."

"And my tomes wouldn't be?" Reflet crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"Never said they wouldn't. You could just stun them with your tomes and then I'd do the actual destroying, essentially taking Pikachu's role for him."

As if on cue, there was a loud " _PIIIIII-KAAAAA!_ " that resounded through the hallway. Both women quickly turned their heads to see a small yellow rodent bounding in their direction. Once he got close, he sprang up onto Samus' shoulder and sat there, staring nearly eye to eye with Reflet due to Samus' height. There was a staring contest between the two of them for several seconds before Reflet finally blinked, which caused Pikachu to close his eyes and stick his tongue out at the tactician. Trying to ignore how cheeky the Pokemon was being, Reflet directed her attention back to Samus' face.

"This doesn't change anything. I'm still going with you whether you need me or not." Samus reached up and patted Pikachu's head twice before lowering her hand, all before she began speaking once more.

"When did I ever say that Pikachu was going to replace you on this mission?" The bounty huntress had a point. She never actually said that Pikachu was going to fill the role that was being described not too long prior. Reflet was the one who had jumped to conclusions thanks to being insecure. Realizing that Samus was correct, Reflet shrunk back a bit and made herself a bit smaller while looking at the ground.

"So... You still want me to help you out then?"

"But of course. You can stun the Mechon with your tomes." Pikachu bristled a bit upon assuming that this meant that he was being ousted from the mission because Reflet was taking his role. Samus quickly calmed the mouse Pokemon down by petting his head while adding more to what she said. "Pikachu can also do the same. You two can fill the same role, which would definitely give us an advantage against large numbers of Mechon."

"But that doesn't mean we're going to go in guns ablazing either, are we?" Reflet's arms fell back to her sides. It was plain to see in her eyes that her strategical mind was working once again. Samus nodded again before she looked into Pikachu's eyes.

"That's right. I only have a limited amount of ammo in my Varia Suit, and you only have a limited number of uses for your weapons. We'll have to avoid as many battles as possible, only fighting when we absolutely need to." A small smile found its way to the blonde's face before she continued. "I'm counting on you to think of the best ways to get past as many Mechon as possible without being detected, Grandmaster Tactician of Iris." Upon hearing her title, Reflet perked up considerably as a wide grin found its way to her face.

"Leave it to me!" She boasted. "I'll make sure we avoid as many battles as possible as we climb up the Mechonis to find the materials we need to save Robin!"

"In that case, we should talk to Master Hand about getting permission for the three of us to head to Shulk's world so that we may start the journey to collect what we need." Samus was very happy that she had managed to talk sense into Reflet. Besides, the last time the bounty huntress had really gotten to go on a big adventure was quite a while ago, so hopefully this little excursion to the mechanical titan of Shulk's world would be enough to satisfy her desire to do something other than sit around at the mansion waiting for her next Smash matches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2560 words. And here's my first fic for 2016. I'm hoping to make this out to be a stealth-heavy Metroidvania styled adventure on Mechonis. And you really can't have a Metroidvania adventure without the protagonist of one of the compounded game titles of the genre, ~~Metroid~~ Samus Aran! Couple notes:
> 
> 1\. Upon thinking about it, I've decided that, to distinguish between the two Halidoms of Ylisse, one of them is going to go by its Japanese name, Iris. It's not pronounced like the flower either, but rather like 'Yrisse', if that makes any sense. Just imagine somebody saying 'Ylisse' in a very Engrishy way and that's how you pronounce 'Iris' here. And seeing as Reflet uses her Japanese name (as well as Robin's Ylisse already being confirmed to be called such), it made sense for Reflet's kingdom to be Iris. As we'll see later, the other characters from Iris DO NOT have their Japanese names, only Reflet. Well... most of them...
> 
> 2\. Reflet's log comment is a not-so-subtle jab at Donnel. Yes, I know he starts with a Bronze Lance rather than a Log, but he would totally have used a log if he didn't have that Bronze Lance.
> 
> 3\. Yes, that last sentence is a reference to the fact that there hasn't been a (good new) Metroid game since 2007. Prime: Trilogy doesn't count because it's just a compilation of the Prime games, and Other M doesn't count because it's Other M. And I doubt Federation Force is going to fill that role either. Samus wants her time in the limelight again, damn it!


	2. Authorizations and Considerations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reflet, Samus, and Pikachu make preparations to head out to Shulk's world with Master Hand while Shulk and Chrom talk about some concerns that have come up regarding Lucina. Are things really okay for everybody?

It was a day later when it came finally time for the rescue team to head out to Mechonis. The only available portal to that world would set the three all the way on the Bionis' Leg near Colony 6, however, which was extremely far away from their intended destination. Master Hand deliberated on how to make sure the rescue team didn't waste too much time climbing up the Bionis just to make their way to Mechonis itself. Considering Reflet and Samus didn't really have any native guides that would help them get through the Bionis, they would spend far too much time and energy trying to get their bearings and make their way up the titan. It was time they really didn't have, considering nobody knew when Robin's body would run out of energy and he would die.

"It's a bit of a risky move, but one that could save us days, if not weeks of travel." Samus suggested, having donned her famous orange Varia Suit for this adventure. She had less mobility while wearing the armor, but she did have a lot more defense against attacks as well as the elements. Considering Shulk's world was quite different than any of the planets Samus had traversed before, she felt it was wise to take the Varia Suit. She had been speaking to Master Hand, whose fingers were drumming the desk that he was sitting at, waiting for the bounty huntress to continue.

"I'm listening." He said, fingers still tapping the table. "What do you think can be done to cut down on the amount of travel time, Samus?"

"We can use my spaceship in order to fly in as close as we can without getting the attention of the Mechon." Samus had brought her spaceship to the tournament, having traveled here in the first place with it. She also took advantage of having her ship with her as part of her Final Smash while in her Zero Suit incarnation, in which she leaped into the sky and used the lasers of the ship to shoot down her opponents. Either way, the fact that it was here at the tournament grounds meant that it was a definite possibility to use for the mission. Master Hand immediately stopped drumming the table upon hearing the suggestion.

"You have no idea what kinds of enemies you'll encounter trying to maneuver your way to Mechonis, and I'm sure that if you park your ship anywhere there, you won't have a ship by the time you're done with the mission." The disembodied hand sounded quite concerned, and considering he didn't have a head, this was really the only way to tell his mood. Samus nodded her head in understanding.

"Yes, hence why I said 'as close as we can'." She repeated. "I'm not expecting to just fly in there easily and settle my ship down right next to the metal we need. That kind of thinking is unrealistic, especially if the Mechon are as militaristic as I've seen them be last time I was on Bionis." A slight flash of light flickered across the green visor of Samus' helmet before she continued speaking. "Therefore, my plan is to find a stretch of land that is not heavily guarded by Mechon close to the Mechonis and land there. We can travel the rest of the way there by foot."

Reflet was sitting nearby with her hood up, slowly flipping through a thick book with a heavy brown cover. She was more focused on her reading material than Samus and Master Hand's discussion, but she wasn't completely out of the loop. The book that Reflet was going through was a large atlas detailing various universes that were connected to the hub that the mansion and surrounding Smash City was built upon. Seeing as Shulk's world was one of said universes connected to the hub, it too was included in the giant atlas. Therefore, she was trying to help by finding a location that could be used for landing. However, she hadn't exactly spoken yet, so nobody knew what she was doing.

At least, not until she stood up just then and started walking over next to Samus.

"I found it. I found a place where we can land." She said, holding out the atlas for the orange-clad huntress to take. It was hard to tell what kind of expression Samus had on her face as she looked down at Reflet, but she took the atlas all the same and scanned the page that it was opened up to. There were several seconds of silence as Samus looked for whatever Reflet was talking about, all while Master Hand sat at his desk, confused but curious. Finally, Samus found what was being looked for.

"Fallen Arm?" She thought aloud. "It appears to be connected to the lowest level of Mechonis Field, which appears to be within the Mechonis itself. Perhaps we can look into this location for a safe place to dock my ship. Thank you for this discovery, Reflet." The tactician placed her hands on her hips and straightened out a bit more.

"A good tactician always does her homework to find a plan before going in~" She boasted. "I wouldn't be Iris' Grandmaster Tactician if I didn't look into the area we were going to infiltrate ahead of time."

"That you wouldn't." Samus replied without thinking twice about what she just said. It was hard to tell because of the hood draped over her face, but Reflet's expression had quickly changed from being full of pride to full of disdain. Instead of arguing with Samus about what she had said, Reflet just exhaled loudly and took her book back from the huntress in a snappy fashion.

"Perhaps we can now discuss how we're going to get your space ship to Shulk's world in the first place." She commented. "I seriously doubt that thing's going to fit in the tiny portals we have, after all." Master Hand gave a thumbs up as he began to speak again.

"Not to worry, Reflet." He answered. "I don't think you've ever been to the garage, have you? If you have, you'll know that there's a much larger, vehicle sized portal there that can definitely fit Samus' ship. All I have to do is give it clearance to go to Shulk's world and it'll go right though." After a second of thought, the magic hand continued. "Oh, and speaking of clearance, while I'm thinking of it, I should give you ladies the clearance right now, else Samus' ship will go through with no occupants. It's just the two of you, right?"

"Hang on..." Samus held up a hand as she scanned around the room as if looking for something. "There should be a third individual among us who needs clearance." Reflet chuckled once Samus finished speaking, causing the visor to redirect itself over to her.

"Don't worry, I've got him covered." As if on cue, two yellow ears with black tips poked out of the tactician's hood, quickly followed by the rest of the Pokemon's body. Pikachu chirped as he waved to Samus. The huntress just stared at Reflet and Pikachu silently for a couple seconds before she finally turned back to Master Hand.

"...Very well, it looks like our group is here." She spoke up in a serious tone once she resumed speaking. "I am asking for clearance to the Endless Sea for Samus Aran, Reflet Lowell, and Pikachu in order to find metal that will repair Robin's malfunctioning Mechon body. I am also asking to bring my spaceship to the Endless Sea as well. Will you grant us permission, Master Hand?"

"...What's with the serious tone all of a sudden, Samus?" Reflet raised an eyebrow in confusion. The tactician was quickly hushed as Samus brought a finger up to her visor.

"She's just being official with the request, Reflet." Master Hand responded. "But yes, anyway... Permission granted for two instances of portal use to and from the Endless Sea for Samus Aran and her spaceship, Reflet Lowell, and Pikachu." After he finished speaking, the glove rose above his desk a couple feet before firing a jolt of energy at the two ladies and the Pokemon. Reflet shrieked as she was hit while Pikachu hid back inside the tactician's hood. Samus didn't move at all the whole time. Behind her visor, the huntress was rolling her eyes at Reflet's reaction.

"You're fine, Reflet." She said once the magic faded out. "There's no need to be so melodramatic. We should get on our way to Mechonis now that we've got permission. Thank you for granting us permission, Master Hand." Samus turned on her left heel after giving a bow, quickly starting to walk out of the room. Reflet gave a hasty curtsy immediately afterward, not wanting to dump Pikachu out onto the floor by bowing. She then ran out of the room to catch up with Samus, who was now on her way to the garage to find her spaceship.

* * *

Shulk was nestled up in a chair in his own room, a book between his hands. He was trying to keep his mind off the fact that Robin was in the next room over in a hibernation state, slowly dying as what energy remained in his body was being used for self preservation. Without the ability to eat or drink, however, he would run out sooner or later and there would be no turning him back on again. Shulk didn't know how long it would be before Robin's energy ran out, as there was no physical indication to his state of health, but he seriously hoped that there was enough time remaining that the tactician could be saved.

Just then, there was a knock at Shulk's door, which was enough to make the Monado wielder jump out of his skin. He hadn't been expecting anybody to come and bother him today, as this was supposed to be the day in which Samus and Reflet were leaving for his world. Curiosity prompted Shulk to leave his seat and make his way over to the door so that whoever was on the other side could hear what he was about to say.

"Who's there?" Shulk inquired, trying to look through the peep hole installed in the door to figure it out before getting a verbal response. All he saw was something blue covering up much of his view through the hole. A moment later, Shulk learned why there was so much blue on the other side of the peep hole.

"It's Chrom." The guest on the other side of the door replied. That explained the blue, at least. Figuring there was no reason not to talk to the Exalt, Shulk opened up the door to get a better look at Chrom. This wasn't the same Chrom that he had fought beside in Ylisse not too long ago, but this Chrom held as much concern about Robin as the one from the male tactician's own world did.

"Greetings." Shulk nodded his head slowly as he stood in the doorway before the blue haired lord. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. Is there something you would like to discuss with me? Or do you perhaps wish to see Robin?"

"I'm here to see you, actually." Chrom replied. "Do you mind if I come into your room? This discussion might last a little while, and I'd prefer we chat in private so that nobody coming down the hallway here can eavesdrop." Shulk and Robin's suite was nestled in the middle of a long corridor full of other suites, so it was certainly possible that other Smashers might come walking down the hallway to return to their rooms.

"All right." Shulk moved out of his doorway so Chrom could enter. The blue haired Exalt quickly sat down at a nearby table once inside, and Shulk joined him a couple seconds later. They were now staring directly at one another, and there was a brief moment of silence before Shulk continued. "What is it you want to discuss with me about?"

"It's about my wife, Reflet..." Chrom looked a little worried as he folded his hands into his lap. "This isn't specifically about that mission she agreed to go on, however. More like... I just wanted to talk to somebody close to her about how worried I am in general."

"Worried? Are you scared that Reflet might get killed while she's out on Mechonis, much like what happened with Robin?"

"A bit, yeah." Chrom was staring at his hands while he spoke. "I don't know what I would do if Reflet came back with a metal body like Robin's... Especially considering Lucina hasn't even been born yet." Shulk sighed loudly, prompting Chrom to look up at him.

"That's exactly why I didn't want Reflet going on the mission!" He whined, knitting his hands into his straw-like flaxen hair in worry. "What will happen to things on your world if Lucina is never born?"

"That's... kind of the reason why I wanted to talk to you in the first place." Chrom's face quickly changed from one of worry to determined concern. "Lucina's birthday is on April 20th. As you know, it's the end of November. I have reason to believe that Lucina is supposed to be born this year, and yet Reflet doesn't look pregnant at all, despite the fact that she should be about four months pregnant with Lucina if she's supposed to be born this year." Shulk gave a double take at this reveal before his face softened in concern.

"...Are you sure it's supposed to be this year?" He asked. "If Lucina's still around, but Reflet's not pregnant, maybe it's next year. Did Lucina say for sure when she was born, or are you just speculating?" Chrom shook his head.

"Lucina refuses to talk about her birth, thinking that she might change the future in a serious way. At the same time, she's always on edge whenever it's brought up. I'm wondering if she's worried that she won't be born." Shulk looked over his shoulder in the direction where he knew his and Robin's beds were, frowning as he thought about the circumstances Robin had gone through prior to arriving here.

"...Does Lucina actually know about what happened to Morgan?" He asked, magenta eyes flitting back to Chrom a moment later. "As in, how she disappeared in a painful manner when her mother was killed?" Chrom frowned before shaking his head yet again.

"...No, I don't even think she knows that Robin ever had a wife to begin with. The fact that she doesn't know what will happen to her if she isn't born in this timeline will probably make things even worse for Reflet should that actually happen..." Shulk leaped out of his seat and immediately raised his voice with concern.

"You mean to tell me Lucina doesn't even know what could happen to her?!" He questioned incredulously. "Chrom, her life is at stake here! She's a Smasher! What if Lucina just randomly disappears in the middle of a Smash match after screaming in agony? And then nobody can ever find her again because she was never born in the first place! It'll cause mass pandemonium, especially once the reason why that happened gets revealed!"

"Shulk, you're getting overly worked up about something that might not even happen." Chrom replied with a sigh. Shulk just shot back an incredulous look, as if he was non-verbally saying 'are you serious?'

"...Chrom, I have the ability to see into the future." He replied, voice having lowered in pitch out of annoyance. "I'm constantly seeing terrible things happening to my friends and companions in my visions. You would think I of all people would be sensitive to this kind of thing, wouldn't I?" Realizing how stupid he had just sounded, the Exalt just facepalmed and shook his head while it was still cupped into his hand.

"...I'll just leave you alone now." Chrom mumbled with his hand still slapped across his face, but lowering it before he continued speaking. "I've already shared my concerns with you, so I suppose I'll just invite myself out." He then stood up and turned toward the door. "I hope everybody gets back here in one piece with the necessary materials so that Robin can be fixed." Shulk nodded slowly before hurrying over to the door in order to open it for Chrom. The Exalt left without another word and Shulk closed the door behind him before reclining against that door and slowly sunk down until he was sitting against the wooden entrance, staring up at the ceiling.

"I hope everything turns out okay too." He whispered, eyes still glued above him. "Not only for Robin's sake, but for Reflet, Samus, and Pikachu's, as well..."

* * *

The Fallen Arm was quite easy for Samus to find, as Reflet had mentioned that it literally was an arm that was cleaved off the Mechonis during the battle of the titans. Therefore, after she figured out that it was the left arm of the Mechonis that had been cut off, all Samus had to do was steer her ship over to where she would assume the left arm would have fallen. Thankfully, it was exactly where it was expected to be, although she found it a bit odd that the fingers were pointing toward the Mechonis rather than the Bionis, as if the arm flipped around during the fall. Not that it really mattered one way or another, as what was the biggest concern was getting to Mechonis Field to begin with.

The beach of the Fallen Arm was quiet and serene, surprisingly enough. There were some wildlife that had settled down there, but they weren't anything like the Mechon that Samus fought back on the Bionis' Leg. They seemed to have flesh and blood, for one, and Samus knew that the Mechon were metal with the exception of the drivers of the Faced Mechon, but these were far too small to fit a person inside. Not only that, but they fled as Samus landed her ship near them, as opposed to attacking on sight as well programmed machines probably would do. Either way, it was safe to assume that the space ship was probably not going anywhere soon as long as the only things around were living wildlife and not Mechon.

The three heroes stepped out of the ship, taking in the sights around them. For the arm of a mechanical titan, there sure was a lot of foliage here. It was surprisingly serene - definitely a decent spot to take a vacation to if it weren't for the fact that there was still a war going on between the two titans looming above. There was no time to be taking a break here, though. The two ladies and Pokemon needed to get moving to Mechonis as soon as possible. After all, who knew how long it was going to take to get the metal needed to save Robin?

Reflet verified which way the group needed to go with her atlas and immediately they set off in that direction, looking around as they walked for any signs of Mechon. Hopefully things would be quiet until they got to Mechonis Field proper, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Either way, the Mechonis mission had officially begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3371 words. I have no excuse for why this chapter took so long to come out. Notes:
> 
> 1\. I have reason to believe that the Ylissean/Irisean Exalted line kept the name of the first Exalt after many generations. Considering the first Exalt is none other than Marth, whose surname is Lowell, that would mean Lowell would be the Exalted family name. Seeing as Reflet is married to Chrom, she gets his surname, making her full name Reflet Lowell. Yeah, I know that anime isn't canon, but I'm still using that name anyway because I like it and a lot of people use it despite it being non-canon. Just like how a lot of people use "Soss" as Dickson's (and Shulk's) surname when that's not canon either. Yes, I use "Soss" too, before you ask.
> 
> 2\. I ran calculations to find out that Lucina would have had to be conceived at the end of July, beginning of August in order to be born on April 20th. Considering this story is supposed to take place before the Homs' First Christmas one-shot, I set it during November.


	3. The Ascent Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samus, Reflet, and Pikachu start climbing Mechonis Field and sneaking by Mechon to look for the metal they need. Just how far can they go without being detected?

Two pairs of feet padded softly onto the metal ground of the Mechonis, barely ringing with each step. One pair was a bit louder than the other thanks to metal tapping against metal, as opposed to leather against metal, but noise could still be heard. Samus had taken the lead, considering she was the one with the weapons that could do considerable damage against any Mechon that guarded this entrance, but she was relieved to find that this path wasn't too heavily guarded. Reflet was right behind her, also looking around to take in their surroundings. This place was nothing like anything she had seen back in Iris, what with everything being made out of metal. Reflet did have to wonder if Samus had encountered any places like this during her various excursions to other planets while on her bounty hunting missions, but she decided against asking. The tactician and the huntress were going to have to stay relatively quiet throughout the whole journey as to not get the attention of any Mechon that may be nearby and sensitive to sound. Reflet had read in her atlas that there were creatures who had that kind of sensitivity and there wasn't an easy way to tell which ones possessed it or not, so it was better to assume they all did and play it safe.

Samus took a moment to look directly up once she had gotten out from underneath an overhang, trying to see just how far up she and Reflet were going to have to go. Considering she couldn't even see the top of the area, this was a considerable distance. If Samus was here alone, she would just use her Screw Attack and just repeatedly jump in mid air until she got up far enough to get where she needed to. After all, they didn't particularly need to get to the very top of the Mechonis, but only to a spot where they could gather some scrap metal that would be useful for Robin. Unfortunately for the huntress, Reflet didn't exactly possess the ability to use the Screw Attack, much less jump with any kind of considerable height. Her floaty jumps in the Super Smash Brothers tournament were mostly chalked up to the enhancements that the battle system made to her abilities - enhancements that didn't exactly exist here while she was out on another world.

Thus, the two women carefully continued onward by foot. Pikachu briefly poked his head out from Reflet's hood, but one look at the mechanical area around him and the poor Pokemon was so freaked out that he immediately hid in the tactician's hood once more. Reflet chuckled quietly when she noticed that her hood was shaking, reaching around to the back so that she could reach a hand behind her in an attempt to reassure the mouse Pokemon. "Nothing bad's going to happen to you, I promise." Reflet whispered, brown eyes darting back to catch some kind of glimpse of Pikachu's own black ones. "Just stay safe in there until we need you."

"Ref." Samus spoke in a low voice just then, reaching a hand back behind her that Reflet nearly walked into because she was so distracted by Pikachu. Of course, after that little distraction, Reflet's eyes darted forward again so she could figure out the reason why she was being stopped. It didn't take long until the tactician laid eyes upon two small flying Mechon directly in front of them, each one angled at a 180 degree from each other and they spun around in unison, as if to cover each other's backs and leave no area unwatched. There was no alternative path and no way to get by them without being seen. Therefore, it was time for Reflet's tactical mind to come into play.

"I've got this." She said quietly, pacing forward as she took a yellow tome out of her robe. There was a large lightning bolt imprinted upon the cover, indicative of the type of magic that this tome permitted Reflet to use. After a quick incantation with some magic runes appearing around her, Reflet let loose decently sized yellow bolt of lightning at the Mechon - an Elthunder. Normally she would shout "ELTHUNDER!" to better channel the magic, but the last thing she wanted was to get the attention of other nearby Mechon, and so she went without the shouting. Upon being zapped with the Elthunder, the Mechon she had aimed for immediately stopped in place and vibrated in place while the electricity affected its systems.

Unfortunately, Reflet had misjudged the timing that it would take her Elthunder spell to get over to the tiny machine, and thus its partner started to spin while the first Mechon was in the middle of reacting to getting zapped. As such, it bounced a little in alarm as it started wailing loudly in response to an obvious attack just now, trying to call any nearby Mechon for assistance. Reflet squeaked as she realized she messed up and quickly tried to shut the other Mechon up before its alarm echoed throughout the entire Mechonis and called every single Mechon down to fight her and Samus. Another Elthunder was quickly fired at the chirping Mechon, electrocuting it as well and causing it to fall into the oil slick below. That was an effective way to shut the thing up. Samus had made her way over to the first Mechon that had been attacked and kicked it away into the abyss as well, assuming that would be enough to get rid of the thing for good.

It just so happened that the flying Mechon chirped long enough so that another nearby machine had sprung to attention and made its way over to where Reflet and Samus were standing, now posturing itself to attack. It was a little bigger than the Mechon that had been sounding the alarm earlier and  looked suspiciously like a scorpion. In fact, it brandished its two large claws over its frame, posed to strike at lightning speed with them. Samus grabbed Reflet's arm and pulled her back away from the Mechon, watching the machine's powerful claws jab into the ground in front of her fast enough to puncture the ground. These Mechon were extremely deadly. One wrong move and there would be a metal limb piercing through their bodies, both women realized.

"Pikachu!" Reflet hissed as she turned to look over her shoulder. A moment after saying the Pokemon's name, a pair of yellow ears poked out of her hood, followed by the rest of Pikachu's head several seconds later. "We need your help! We need you to try to get on top of the Mechon in front of us and electrocute it. You're small and fast, so you can jump up onto it and dodge its attacks more easily!" The Pokemon nodded in understanding in response to the orders that the tactician had given it. He then immediately leaped out of Reflet's hood, landing several feet in front of her and started sprinting toward the Mechon. The machine raised a claw in an attempt to bring it down onto the rodent's body, but Samus fired several bullets from her suit's cannon to distract it. They didn't do any actual damage, but the projectiles hitting the armor of the Mechon was enough to get its attention.

"Pikaaa... CHUUUUU!" The Electric Mouse Pokemon shouted once it got on top of Mechon without further assault thanks to Samus' intervention. Sparks flew from its cheeks and completely enveloped the Mechon's frame within seconds. The whole thing shook and moved erratically upon being shocked, padding around as if it was in a daze. A few seconds of dizzy waddling later, the Mechon ended up going under a barricade and ended up falling into the oil slick under the floor, likely to never be seen again.

For now, that was the end of the Mechon that had been alerted by Reflet's little mishap, and thus both ladies and the Pokemon could give a sigh of relief. "We're not even five hundred feet from the entrance and we've already been attacked..." Reflet groaned, facepalming at the group's current luck. "I just hope this isn't a fair representation of what's to come as we progress further into the field here..." Pikachu sighed as he bounded back to Reflet and hid within her hood once more, hoping he didn't have to deal with many more Mechon like the one he had just disposed of.

"Ref..." Samus began again, tapping her cannon gently with her other arm. "Are you still sure you want to go through with this? There's still plenty of time to back out if you don't feel safe." The tactician, feeling belittled by the suggestion that she was too weak to be here, frowned and put her hands on her hips before shooting back a reply.

"I already told you!" She hissed. "I'm here for Robin! I'm not going to go back now and give up on him, even after a little Mechon scare here!" The tactician then crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as she reflected on a different part of what Samus had said - specifically, that nickname she had used. "Not only that, but what's with that nickname you're using? Nobody's ever called me that before."

"Does anybody call you anything other than 'Reflet' to begin with?" Samus asked, rolling back on her heels as she also crossed her arms, resting her free hand atop the cannon affixed to her arm. "As far as I've heard around the mansion, everybody just calls you 'Reflet'. Did you ask everybody not to call you by any nicknames or did that just happen on its own?" Reflet placed a hand on her chin and thought for a second before shaking her head.

"The only one who actually calls me anything other than 'Reflet' is Chrom." The tactician replied. "Of course, Chrom is also my husband, so it makes sense that he'd give me some kind of nickname - a pet name that only he can call me to prove that he loves me. Even then, the nickname that he gave me isn't 'Ref', but 'Reffie' instead."

"Would you rather I not use that nickname then?"

"Ah, well..." Reflet took a moment to think before making any kind of response one way or another. On one hand, she was going to have to get used to being called that all the time by Samus. On the other, the fact that Reflet was getting a nickname to begin with probably meant that Samus liked her enough as a friend to warrant giving one to begin with. Considering they hadn't actually talked too much prior to Robin's Mechon ordeal, Reflet had to wonder if she and Samus really could be considered close friends. Still, Samus was waiting for Reflet to make a judgment about the nickname, and so Reflet finally spoke up once more. "It's fine, really. I just wasn't expecting to be called a nickname by you of all people, honestly."

"Is that so?" Samus replied, still crossing her arms. "Did you think you're not worthy of a nickname from me or something like that?" Reflet quickly waved her arms in front of her face and started laughing awkwardly in an attempt to backpedal.

"That's not it at all!" She spluttered. "I was just surprised... You can call me anything you want because we're friends... right?"

"We're allies, at the very least." Reflet winced a little at that response, assuming that it meant Samus didn't consider the two to be friends. Then again, why would they be friends? Reflet was the one who gave Shulk a hard time during his roughest hours after finding out that Robin had died, after all. Samus was Shulk's roommate at the time, so she had to put up with Shulk after being berated by the tactician. That had probably left a bad taste in Samus' mouth, so Reflet wasn't surprised that Samus didn't consider her a friend. Not wanting to mull about on her disappointment too much, Reflet just sighed and abandoned talking further about it, instead changing the subject to the mission once more.

"So..." She began. "We should really start moving through this place again. After all, we don't know how much time Robin has until he shuts down for good." She hoped that they had a while to work with, but there was no way to know for sure. Samus nodded silently, not really having anything more to say than that. With that course of action decided, the two hurried quickly yet quietly further into the field.

Unbeknownst to either of them or to Pikachu, however, there was a M32 hiding nearby with a video camera attached to the underside rather than a gun for surveillance purposes. The camera was locked onto the two women as they hurried further in, cluing whoever was on the other end of the video recording into their presence.

* * *

It just so happened that on the other end of the camera was Egil. He had watched Samus, Reflet, and Pikachu take out the Mechon that had been alerted, as the surveillance Mechon flew over as soon as it could to figure out what was going on and made sure not to stray away from them. Egil noticed their outfits weren't anything like what Homs normally wore, but then after examining them more closely, he recognized both of the outfits. The orange suit was the exact same one worn by the hunter who saved Shulk from Obsidian Face, whereas the purple cloak worn by the white haired girl was the same as the one Robin had worn before being shot down and brought back to Mechonis to be transformed into a Mechon. Flipping out his Smash tournament guide with info on all the fighters, the Machina quickly put names to appearances: Samus was the hunter in the orange suit, The purple cloaked woman was yet another Robin (he wasn't aware that the female tactician went by another name, as it wasn't noted in the guide Egil had), and the yellow creature was a Pikachu.

How dare other Smashers try to interfere further with matters on Mechonis! Egil wasn't even allowed to launch an attack with any of his Mechon. Having lost Obsidian Face meant losing his method of getting around the arbitrary rules due to the lack of restrictions regarding Smashers themselves in dealing with matters on other worlds. However, after some thought, Egil realized he could kill two birds with one stone - he could get rid of Samus and Pikachu and prevent them from saving Shulk again, as well as capture the other Robin and easily rebuild Obsidian Face to accommodate her. He just needed some time to come up with a plan to defeat the Smashers to pull off his plan...

Meanwhile, Vanea was watching her brother scheme the whole time. She wished there was a way to contact Samus, Reflet, and Pikachu without getting Egil's attention in order to warn them about what was going to happen, but considering the video camera that was fixed on the Smashers, she knew it would be impossible. All Vanea could do at this point was just pray to Meyneth that Samus, Reflet, and Pikachu made it out of the situation without being badly hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2558 words. Wow, I haven't updated in over a month. I'm not dead yet, though! Let's just say... real life and Fire Emblem Fates ate up all my time. (Happy birthday, Elise!) Notes:
> 
> 1\. Boy am I glad there's a physical representation at a glance of which monsters are sound/vision types in Xenoblade X, because that didn't exist in the original Xenoblade aside from selecting each monster individually to find out. That's mostly what the line about "being unable to tell which Mechon were sensitive to sound" was commenting on.
> 
> 2\. There's a person in a Skype group I'm a part of who goes by "Reffie" because they roleplay on Tumblr as a Robin who goes by his Japanese name Reflet. Chrom's nickname came from this guy.


	4. An Ambush Sprung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egil launches his plan to defeat Samus, Reflet, and Pikachu. Will the Smashers get out of the situation alive, or will Reflet be subjected to the same fate as Robin as Samus and Pikachu are killed off?

Reflet and Samus had made it up several layers of the Mechonis' interior a few hours later, thankful that they didn't have any encounters that were nearly as terrifying as the first one at the entrance. They had their eyes peeled for anything that could possibly used to save their friend. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be anything but samey looking metal as far as the eye could see in every direction, and all of it was being used to hold the Mechonis' interior in place. Nothing loose that could be taken without causing the entire Mechonis infrastructure to be at risk. Even though this was the lair of the Mechon which threatened to destroy Shulk's home, Samus and Reflet didn't want to cause unnecessary destruction. There had to be free resources around that could be used and not require a welding torch to remove, though.

Several steps onto the current layer, Reflet couldn't help but stop and take a moment to catch her breath, hands on her knees from exhaustion. "Gods..." She huffed. "I didn't realize that this was going to require nearly as much climbing as it did..." As much as Samus wanted to facepalm, she avoided doing so, but couldn't contain her annoyance enough to sound frustrated as she spoke up to Reflet a second later.

"You were the one with the atlas." She argued. "You should have known better than any of us what you were getting into. I could have done this by myself and just used my Screw Attack to get up around the place with little difficulty, but you insisted that you had to come along." Reflet's face contorted into a frown as her hands found their way to her hips.

"Excuse me?!" The tactician barked. "Are you saying I'm dead weight on this mission? For your information, I was the one who found the Fallen Arm that you landed your spaceship on not too long ago! If it wasn't for me, you'd probably be trying to land your ship somewhere on this giant machine and risk getting blown out of the sky!"

"I completely understand that!" Samus replied, voice quickly rising in pitch out of anger. "However, you could have helped just as much by giving that information and sending me off to do this mission on my own! Instead, you wanted to go the full nine yards and actually physically be here! You've done nothing but slow me down and be a hindrance ever since we set foot in Mechonis Field!"

"I helped you defeat that Mechon we fought at the entrance!"

"You tripped its vision in the first place!"

Reflet was going to continue arguing, but she knew Samus was right. The bounty huntress had tools to scale these kinds of vertical heights with ease thanks to her suit. Reflet, on the other hand, was a military strategist who didn't know the first thing about exploring uncharted territory and was far from equipped to deal with this kind of stressful climb. As such, she quickly simmered down and sighed defeatedly.

"...You're right." She answered in a monotone. "I've done nothing but slow you down. You go on ahead without me. I'll just find my way back down to the Fallen Arm and wait in your ship, reading something, I suppose. It'd be more useful than continuing to stall out Robin's time. Go on, use your Screw Attack and get what you need quickly. I mean, it's not like you need me or Pikachu to even fight the Mechon, as we've proven already..." With that, she started to walk away from Samus.

"Ref, what if I find the materials before you find your way back to the Fallen Arm?" The huntress replied before Reflet could get too far. "What if you're somewhere in the middle of the Mechonis and I can't find you with any kind of ease because we separated? Worse, what if you get spotted by a Mechon? You're safest with me at this point." Reflet turned back to Samus and started shouting with annoyance again.

"I already told you, I'm wasting more of your time being here with you! I'm slow, I don't have the tools for this, and I'm not any kind of help with the Mechon! Just let me start heading back to the Fallen Arm already!" Samus was about to shout at Reflet for not thinking about the whole picture, but she knew this was the tactician being stubborn again. Her stubbornness was the whole reason she was here in the first place, and now she was being stubborn about leaving? Talk about trying one's patience. Samus couldn't help but roll her eyes at Reflet.

It just so happened that upon doing so, Samus noticed that something was falling fast out of the sky toward the unsuspecting tactician. As a result, she called out her name loudly before Reflet stormed out of earshot. "REFLET, WATCH OUT!" She shouted, breaking into a fast clip in order to catch up to her. Upon hearing her name, Reflet spun back around in confusion, noticing that Samus was dashing right for her and looking like she was going to shoulder check the poor mage. Not quite sure how to process what was going on, Reflet just stood there and allowed herself to get tackled by the oncoming orange blur. She shrieked as she flew through the air a few feet before falling unceremoniously onto her back. It took several seconds before Reflet recovered from the tackle, and she was about to shout at Samus for being so rough...

...That was, until she figured out why she had been tackled in the first place. Reflet noticed that there was a grayish blue and gold machine with many long spindly legs and what looked like large tentacles with claws on the ends of them waving around settled in the very spot where she had been standing a moment earlier. Directly underneath the machine was Samus's Varia Suit, unmoving. The tactician put two and two together, quickly realizing that Samus had taken the hit instead of Reflet due to the fact that her suit was more durable than Reflet's exposed body. Even then, it didn't look like the huntress' special armor suit was strong enough to cushion the hit very well and Samus was out cold. That meant that the Mechon that had very literally just dropped out of the sky would have to be taken care of by Reflet and Pikachu without the assistance of their third companion.

"...Pikachu, I need your help." Reflet pleaded desperately with the Pokemon that was still settled within the hood of her cloak. Two yellow ears poked up into view, but there was no other indication of movement from the mouse Pokemon. "Samus is probably badly hurt and it's my fault. We need to save her - she's trapped under that Mechon in front of us."

"Pika?!" Pikachu finally sat up fully with a surprised look on his face from hearing the news about his friend. He looked around quickly and didn't take long to find the huntress' bright orange suit beneath the squirming machine in front of him and Reflet. "Piipi!" He shouted with concern as he leaped out of Reflet's hood and started hurrying over to try to get to Samus. The Mechon was quick to turn its attention to the yellow rodent, and it looked like it was going to try to attack him while he dashed in close. Reflet noticed the claws poised to strike and immediately unsheathed her Levin Sword from beneath her robes.

"Pikachu, wait a second!" She yelled, dashing over to the Mechon to block a claw attack. Metal banged against metal loudly, and Reflet couldn't help but grunt from how powerful the attack was that she just blocked. The slick metal floor of Mechonis Field didn't do anything to help the tactician hold her stance, and she slid back a little from the force of the blow. That wasn't enough to stop her, however, as Reflet stepped forward once more and attacked the Mechon's other claw before it could grab Pikachu, this time getting a clean slice through to the wiry tentacle that was holding a claw at the end of it. The Levin Sword wasn't powerful enough to slice through the tough Mechon armor, but it was enough to knock the offending appendage away from the Pokemon.

While Reflet dealt with the Mechon claws trying to attack him, Pikachu focused on getting to where Samus was in hopes that he could somehow revive the fallen huntress. He managed to slip under the legs of the machine and started prodding Samus, repeatedly whining "Piipi..." over and over again. At one point, he even attempted to send a jolt through the Varia Suit in hopes that it would wake Samus up, but there was still no response from her. The poor Pokemon looked like he was going to cry - he had been very close to Samus since the Subspace War, as it was the huntress who had rescued him from slavery in which he was forced to power machines with his electricity against his will. Samus was both brave and caring, and if it wasn't for the fact that Samus wasn't a Pokemon Trainer or the fact that he already belonged to Red, he would totally let her catch him. He didn't want to lose his best friend.

However, while he was distracted by Samus, Pikachu completely forgot that Reflet was still out there fighting to keep him safe. Only after hearing a loud scream did Pikachu realize that Reflet had been fighting this whole time against a monster she couldn't possibly defeat by herself. The mouse Pokemon turned his head in response, and his ears perked up in shock. One of the Mechon's tentacles had managed to wrap itself completely around Reflet's body and hoisted her into the air so that her feet no longer touched the ground. The tactician's arms were also pinned to her sides, making her unable to swing her Levin Sword around with any kind of meaningfulness anymore. All she could do was squirm vigorously and scream for help. A second later, one of the Mechon's other tentacles reached up and clamped its claw around Reflet's Levin Sword, yanking it out of her grasp and throwing the blade aside. The lightning bolt shaped sword very nearly slid off the platform to be lost in the muck below, and it was teetering precariously on the edge. Now she had no way to defend herself anymore besides vain kicking.

"Pipiika!" Pikachu yelled as he took an offensive stance standing on all four of his paws. A moment later, he unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt attack on the Mechon in hopes that it would get the mechanical beast to drop Reflet. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that the entire machine was made up of conductive metal, meaning the electricity flowed throughout the entire Mechon's frame and up the arm that was holding onto Reflet.

"GYAAAAAHHH!" She screamed, continuing to flail in pain as electricity coursed through her body. "PIKACHU, PLEASE STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!" Upon hearing Reflet, Pikachu immediately ceased his electrical onslaught, staring in horror at what he had just done. There was only one thing he could do now to save Reflet if he couldn't use his electricity.

Pikachu quickly dashed forward toward the arm holding onto Reflet before he bounced up into the air. A second later, his tail started glowing white as he somersaulted through the air and smacked the tentacle with the glowing limb, using the move Iron Tail on the Mechon. Unfortunately, Pikachu's tail just bounced off the metal arm without even leaving a dent. The surprised Pokemon stared in shock, as he was sure that the move would have left SOME kind of mark. This left him wide open, however, and another Mechon arm reached out and smacked into his side with a heavy claw. The tiny Pokemon flew through the air, gasping in pain from the attack. He landed several feet away, body smacking hard into the metal floor. Pikachu quickly attempted to get back up onto his feet, but the attack as well as the hard landing proved to be too much, and so he flopped back onto the ground once again, defeated.

"Pikachu, no!" Reflet screamed as she realized her last chance at being freed was defeated. "Oh gods... Is this really how I'm going to die?" She stared at the other claws that weren't constricting her body, wondering when they were going to start tearing into her flesh to kill her. She was going to turn out just like Robin, wasn't she?

However, much to her surprise, the Mechon didn't attack her next. Instead, it started walking away, climbing further up into Mechonis with its prey still entirely intact. Reflet was completely confused as to why she was being spared, but she didn't exactly want to find out where the machine was taking her either. Why was she alone being taken prisoner and not Samus or Pikachu? A gut feeling told Reflet that she was going to find out very soon, and the answer wasn't going to be pleasant.

* * *

Pikachu recovered rather quickly from his defeat, but it was still too late for him to do anything about the Mechon that had just kidnapped Reflet. "Pipiika..." His ears drooped as he thought about what just happened. The only sign of her remaining was the Levin Sword still perched near the edge of the balcony. Not wanting Reflet's precious weapon to fall down and get lost forever, Pikachu walked over and started pulling the sword back away from the ledge. He managed to get the blade almost entirely back onto solid ground before hearing a strange noise behind him. The Pokemon's ears perked up and he spun around to see what it was. Electricity started to crackle around his cheeks in case it was another Mechon trying to attack him while he was down. However, the discharge quickly faded when he realized that the weird sound he was hearing came from Samus' suit falling apart. Seconds later, the huntress rose from the debris, brushing dust off of her Zero Suit.

"Ugh, unbelievable..." She grumbled. "I wasn't expecting that Mechon to be so big. Completely knocked the main power out of my Varia Suit out from the sheer weight, not to mention knocked _me_ out for a long time..." A second later, Pikachu gave a loud "PIIPI!" before bounding over and leaping up onto Samus' shoulder, nuzzling up against her cheek affectionately. Samus couldn't help but chuckle as she pet the mouse Pokemon's head for a second. "Gave you quite a scare there, didn't I?" She asked. "Probably looked like I was down for the count for a while there."

Blue eyes quickly darted around their surroundings for a second before Samus addressed the elephant in the room. "...Where's Reflet?" She asked, focusing on her Pokemon companion now, as if he might know where the white haired queen disappeared to. Pikachu's ears immediately drooped upon hearing Reflet's name.

"Piii..." He sighed, staring at his feet for a second. Still looking quite melancholy, the Pokemon jumped off of Samus' shoulder and scurried over to the Levin Sword sitting on the ground not too far away. Samus walked over behind Pikachu and immediately frowned upon recognizing the discarded weapon in front of her. The huntress quickly leaned down and picked the Levin Sword up, examining the damage it sustained during the battle with the large Mechon. There were several major dents made in the metal from attacks that Reflet had blocked, and it was a miracle that the whole thing was still intact, Samus quickly noted.

"...What exactly happened to Reflet?" She finally spoke up several seconds later, looking over at Pikachu once again. Seeing as Pikachu couldn't speak English, he instead tried to relay what happened with charades. He did his best to convey what happened with his actions, jumping around excitedly and bending his body around to try to represent everything as best he could. Samus watched this energetic display with equal curiosity and seriousness, finally speaking up again once Pikachu stopped moving. "So... the Mechon didn't kill Reflet, but it took her alive instead?" Pikachu briskly nodded, then pointed up. Samus' eyes darted above her at the vast machine titan's body surrounding them before her eyes narrowed.

"I have a feeling that we're going to have to act fast to save Reflet." She responded. "Fortunately, my grapple shot should be able to give us added mobility, seeing as it's just me and you." Pikachu could easily hold onto Samus as she ascended through the remainder of the Mechonis, whereas she couldn't have considered the option if Reflet was still with them due to her size and weight. "Come on, let's get moving."

Before Samus began climbing, however, she left a beacon for herself next to the remains of her Varia Suit. She would need to pick the pieces up before leaving so that the suit could be repaired eventually. Dealing with it now would just waste time Samus didn't know if they even had. The huntress could get the debris again once Reflet was safe. With that done, Samus aimed her gun at a nearby ledge and tucked Pikachu under the other arm before shooting at the ledge and ascending to the tier above, finally beginning the rescue attempt.

* * *

Reflet didn't even remember passing out as she was brought further up the Mechonis in the grasp of a Mechon, but she found herself waking up again looking up at a lamp shining down directly into her eyes. It caused her to wince visibly and attempt to bring a hand up to shield her eyes. However, her hand refused to budge, being held down onto the table she was resting upon with sturdy cuffs. This caused Reflet to gasp and sit up as much as she could, trying to figure out where she was and what was going on around her. Fortunately for Reflet, her human body still seemed to be completely intact, although her favorite tactician's coat was suspiciously missing. Reflet sitting up seemed to grab the attention of some dark silhouette on the other side of the room, as the figure came over into sight and immediately freaked her out from its clearly non-human appearance. She couldn't help but elicit a gasp as her brown eyes met its leering red ones.

"So, you're the other Robin..." A distinctly masculine voice came from the tall, gray man. "The resemblance between you two is impressive." Reflet frowned and shook her head at that name.

"My name is not Robin." She said bravely. "I only go by that alias in the Super Smash Brothers Tournament to avoid confusing the audiences. My real name is Reflet." The man's red eyes squinted tighter a bit more at her response.

"It matters not what your name is." He spoke more forcefully. "I have brought you here to my laboratory in order to study you... humans, as your species is apparently called. I wish to learn about what makes you distinct from Homs. After all, your species has a weakness that the Heir to the Monado was able to exploit in order to defeat Obsidian Face when otherwise he was going to lose... If I can find this difference and figure out a way around it, you may very well become the proud pilot of a second Obsidian Face." Reflet gasped and immediately started to pull against her binds in a vain attempt to get free.

"No!" She shouted. "You won't use me to hurt Shulk or the people of Bionis! I won't let you!" The man's silver hand pressed against Reflet's chest, forcing her back down against the table as she continued to struggle in spite of her efforts achieving absolutely nothing of value.

"Sit still while I run an initial scan of your body!" He hissed before pulling some kind of device out from the side of the table Reflet was resting upon and placing it on her chest, sending a quick pulse through her body which completely immobilized her in the next moment long enough for a semi spherical object attached to the table to pass over her motionless body, shining some kind of green light down from it. A second later, a hologram appeared in front of the silver man in the shape of Reflet's body. He was looking at it silently for several seconds as Reflet sat up again. Instead of complaining, however, she was transfixed on the advanced technology in front of her. She had never seen a hologram like this before, much less an x-ray due to the fact that such technology didn't exist in Iris yet. Reflet knew a little about the fact that there was a skeleton inside her thanks to medical journals she had read since coming to the Smash Tournament, but seeing this figure of herself was extremely intriguing.

"...Wait a second..." The silver man's voice snapped Reflet out of her fixation on the hologram. "What in Meyneth's name is this... barely visible thing?" His long nail was pointing at some kind of curled up, half visible object that appeared to be lodged within the tactician's lower body. Reflet leaned forward as much as she could to try to see for herself, as she wasn't quite sure either. "It appears to be some kind of... parasite living within you?"

"Parasite...?" Reflet repeated quietly, now squinting at the light that made up the visage of her body. "I don't recall having a..." At that exact moment, realization hit Reflet. She knew exactly what it was, and horror completely overcame her. "Oh no... Oh gods no..."

"What is it?" The man hissed, sounding clearly annoyed. "Speak, before I find a knife and cut your abdomen open to find out what it is for myself!"

"No don't!" Reflet shouted desperately, having gone completely pale between the threat just now as well as her realization. "I... I'm pregnant. I didn't even know until just now but..." Her voice trailed off completely as her eyes constricted fully in shock. That 'parasite' that the silver man had discovered with his x-ray hologram was none other than Lucina!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3718 words. Bet you're glad this didn't take like two months to come out unlike the previous chapter, aren't you? What a cliffhanger, too! Notes:
> 
> 1\. The Mechon that attacks Samus, Reflet, and Pikachu is a M70 series, which looks like [this](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/xenoblade/images/4/47/Mechon_M71.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/200?cb=20120909202623). I know Aria and Ginta already wrote a raunchy story about the M76 MOIST, but I thought a M70 series Mechon would be the best bet in terms of size and abilities to launch the attack. Besides, no raunchiness here thanks to my insistence to keep the T rating, so no second M76 incident, sorry!
> 
> 2\. Just like in the Pokemon anime, Pikachu has certain combinations of the syllables in his name that represent certain words (such as "pikapi" in the anime meaning "Ash", because it sounds like his Japanese name Satoshi). "Piipi" means "Samus" and "Pipiika" means "Reflet".
> 
> 3\. Yes, I'm going by Pokemon anime logic here in that somebody zapped by Pikachu's electricity wouldn't immediately die, all because killing Reflet here would be no fun. That and she still needed to have her big reveal.
> 
> 4\. That talk in chapter 2 about Reflet and Lucina wasn't just pointless filler! You probably should have seen this reveal coming after I spent that much time talking about Lucina back then.


	5. Hurrying Through the Field

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samus and Pikachu have to race against the clock and find Reflet somewhere within the Mechonis before something bad happens to her. Meanwhile, Reflet has been saddled with the knowledge that she's been pregnant for quite a while now unknowingly, and her worries quickly get the best of her.

This was not the way that Reflet wanted to find out that she had been pregnant for several months now without knowing it. Ideally, she would have liked to find out that Lucina was on the way while not strapped down to a metal table, unable to move. Thinking back on all the dangerous things the Irisean queen had done in the months between the princess' conception and now, she felt immediately worried. What kind of damage had she already done by being reckless and throwing herself into these kinds of situations without realizing she was pregnant? Had Lucina been hiding her pain from her mother because of all the unnecessary bumps and bruises she must have taken while Reflet was roughing around with the rest of the Smashers?

What was even more concerning than Lucina's condition was Reflet's own. Several months had passed since conception, and Reflet didn't look pregnant at all. The tactician had merely assumed that she had just failed to have a baby with Chrom and could try again soon. Other symptoms had come up that something might be amiss, such as odd cramping, shortness of breath, and stomach pains, but Reflet didn't think these were concerning enough to seek medical attention about, especially when the symptoms went away without a trace after some time. But no, Lucina was there this whole time and Reflet hadn't realized it. Something was terribly wrong if Reflet's belly wasn't growing like it did with most pregnant women. She knew she had to get a proper look at what was going on inside her uterus, but she doubted she was going to get the answers she needed here, even in spite of the high tech x-ray projected to her side.

The one who had taken the x-ray continued to look at the information that had come up for a second before an evil smile highlighted his silver face. "Well then." He began. "You will probably be relieved to know that I now have no plans to kill you anymore, Reflet - at least, not for a while." These words weren't exactly what the tactician queen would call relieving, honestly. Especially so when they were followed up by what the silver man said next. "Instead, I would like to examine the baby when it's finally born. Killing you now would only abort the child before it has a chance to survive outside the womb at this point in time, correct?"

"You bastard..." Reflet growled as she tugged at her binds yet again, as unsuccessful this time as she had been every other time. "My baby isn't your lab rat! She has no business being your prisoner from the moment she's born when she's the princess of Iris!" Reflet couldn't imagine a Mechon Lucina, as much as she tried. Surely this metal man wasn't going to leave the poor girl's human body completely intact as she grew. He would try to affix metal pieces on Lucina, or just outright turn her into a Mechon like he had with Robin. Reflet wasn't going to let her child be subjected to such a cruel fate. It would definitely have permanent repercussions on the future Lucina participating in the tournament, perhaps even causing her to have to drop out entirely or disappear due to dying at an earlier age. That was the last thing Reflet wanted to happen to her daughter.

But what was she able to do? She couldn't move at all due to the restraints on her limbs. Was she really just going to be allowed to stay imprisoned here for the next several months while Lucina continued to grow? Surely Master Hand wouldn't allow Reflet to remain on Mechonis...

...or would he? Would he assume that Reflet was dead and not even mount any kind of rescue effort? Would he just bide his time, thinking that Reflet would reappear as a Mechon, not unlike what happened to Robin? What if other Mechon found the trampled Samus and finished what the Mechon that had kidnapped Reflet had started, killing her too? Reflet had been a bit terrified to find out that she was just one of many Avatars hailing from a plethora of different Outrealms and she could be replaced as a tournament participant. Originally she had hated Robin for that reason before later befriending and connecting with him on a spiritual level. Same deal went with Pikachu - he wasn't a member of a rare Pokemon species, and another Pikachu could be brought to the mansion and raised to participate in his predecessor's stead. However, Samus was one of a kind. There weren't any Outrealm Samuses that could be summoned to replace the one who fell in battle on Mechonis, were there? Reflet doubted it.

All Reflet could do was sit there in fear and wonder about what was going to happen. Time ticked by painfully slow as she waited for something to happen - either from the silver man whose name she still didn't know, or from some kind of outside force, as unlikely as that seemed to her...

* * *

Samus had made far more progress up the Mechonis in the past hour than she had with Reflet accompanying her. The fact that she could use her tether to climb from tier to tier easily and not leave the tactician queen behind meant that she could make good time climbing up the mechanical titan. She had no way of knowing for sure, but she had to assume she was at least halfway up the Mechonis by now. Every so often she stopped to see if Pikachu was okay, considering the quick zipping through the Mechonis was probably harder on the poor Pokemon than it was Samus, who had experience with this kind of exploration. However, Pikachu was a hardy little creature, so he didn't seem all that bothered by the quick motions. Besides, he was used to zipping around at high speeds with attacks like Quick Attack and Double Team (even if he didn't use the latter in the Smash tournament), so Samus' speed didn't bother him at all.

Eventually, she stopped a moment to try to get her bearings and looked around at the interior of the metal beast that she was climbing up through. Samus made the mistake of taking a look back down where she had come from and almost immediately was assaulted with vertigo due to the height. She had to give this world some credit for its vastness, and she had to assume that Bionis was similar. If it weren't for the restrictions placed, Samus would have loved to head over to the Bionis on her own free time and just explore the titan's landscape. However, she was only here because of a mission, though that was on hold until the huntress found Reflet, alive or dead. For Robin's sake, she hoped that the queen would be found in the former state, especially if she had been kidnapped rather than murdered on the spot.

A second later, Pikachu poked Samus in the side to get her attention. She briefly looked at the mouse Pokemon before figuring out why it was trying to get her attention in the first place. There were several Mechon that were moving toward the huntress, as if they had detected her already even though she had only been standing there for a couple seconds. This is when realization hit Samus - she was being watched. Clearly whoever was doing so had sent these Mechon in order to intercept her. The blonde huntress leered at the incoming Mechon while quickly changing the settings on her gun. She switched it from the grappling hook she had been using to climb to the more offensively inclined plasma whip that "Zero Suit Samus" was best known for using in the tournament. Pikachu leaped out of her arms and took an offensive pose next to his closest friend, sparks flying from his cheeks as he prepared to fight off the machines with her.

As if perfectly choreographed, Samus and Pikachu hurried forward at the exact same time and jumped into the air to attack. The huntress lashed out with her whip, snapping it at one of the limbs of a large humanoid shaped machine. Once the whip had latched on by wrapping around the limb several times, Samus strained to lift the machine off the ground. Somehow she managed to do so and threw the larger Mechon atop a smaller one, crushing the latter with the weight of the former. A second later, the smaller Mechon exploded, badly damaging the larger one and leaving it unable to get up. Pikachu proceded to use Thunderbolt on another small Mechon, which caused it to start acting sporadically. The yellow Pokemon's tail then started glowing a silvery color as he used Iron Tail to smack the machine off the side of the platform they were standing on, as opposed to trying to destroy it. Pikachu knew his Iron Tail was unable to even put a dent in Mechon armor, and so instead he used the move to protect his tail and give it a bit more power as he tried to knock the machine away from the battlefield. That plan succeeded, and there was one less machine to worry about.

Pikachu then leaped high into the air in order to get as much height for a powerful Thunder attack, but instead he ended up smacking into a small Mechon that was floating overhead. He didn't hit his head or anything, so it was more of a shock than it was painful. However, the Pokemon also noticed the camera that was attached to the little machine and gasped. Pikachu made sure to land on his feet and quickly made his way over to Samus in order to tell her about the discovery. "Piipi!" He squeaked, leaping up onto the huntress' shoulder before pointing up at the camera toting Mechon. Following his eyes, Samus was quick to spot the machine in question, and she leered at it.

"So, we were being watched this whole time..." The blonde fighter growled. "Well then, we just have to take care of that, don't we?" A Mechon attempted to slice Samus down with a claw while she was speaking to Pikachu, but her reflexes were keen enough to jump out of the way. She then used that Mechon as a springboard to get more height so that she could attack the one with the camera. Samus extended her plasma whip toward the propellers of the little Mechon once she was at the peak of her bounce, immediately getting it tangled around the motor and causing the machine to fall out of the sky. It rammed into another fairly small Mechon in its descent, causing the two of them to explode on impact. Now whoever had been spying on them didn't have their trusty camera anymore. Because of this, Samus figured this would be the best time to escape, due to the fact that she wasn't being watched now.

Samus switched her gun from its plasma whip setting back to the grappling hook before jumping onto the tallest Mechon that still remained of the aggressors. From there, she performed another jump and shot her grappling hook out at a platform farther on ahead. She acrobatically leaped around several more platforms until she was certain that the Mechon attackers were nowhere nearby, and then she began the ascent once more. Pikachu was gripping onto Samus with all of his strength, trying not to let go while his friend was sailing through the air. The two of them had gone up several platforms to get away from the group of Mechon below, taking a short breather after that daring escape once they knew that there weren't any Mechon hot on their trail anymore. The machines were probably still down on that lower level, dazed from the speed at which Samus had zoomed away at.

But that relief was only short lived. Upon turning around, Samus realized that she was standing at the end of a very long corridor with a giant bulkhead door at the end of it. Thankfully, it appeared there was a moving floor that would take her from this end of the hallway to the bulkhead on its own, and so she walked over to it and let it do the moving for her for a little bit while she took a moment to breathe and catch up with Pikachu. "Heh, some adventure this has turned out to be..." She chuckled, giving the Pokemon a gentle petting on his head. Pikachu squeaked excitedly upon feeling the hand run across his head, but after a few seconds, his mood turned downcast.

"Pipiika..." He sighed. Samus shook her head and took another look at the slowly approaching bulkhead.

"Don't worry." She said softly. "Something tells me that Ref's still alive. She's got an admirable amount of tenacity, you know. Even in the face of terrible danger, you know she's not going to give up. You know what she sometimes says at the end of her tournament battles, right? 'A good tactician has nothing to fear'. I have reason to believe that Ref's formulating a plan for her escape as we speak."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2208 words. It's short, I know. I missed Lucina's birthday, and I'm sad. I was hoping to have something more done with this by the time 4/20 rolled around, but nope, just didn't come to pass. Real life and writer's block got in the way. Sorry! Not only that, but I haven't gotten to Mechonis Field yet in my playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles, so that really hampered my ability to write this. I had to go look up a playthrough of the game in order to describe things a bit better. Worst part? There's still more I have to research in order to continue with this story. Samus only got to the end of Mechonis Field and now has to get through Central Factory.
> 
> Ah well, until everything gets sorted for the next chapter, there's always The White Mage and the Machine that's being updated more often because it's not highly dependent on knowledge of a world that I don't have. Read that if you want more from this universe (or maybe not, in case you don't want spoilers for what happens at the end of this story).


End file.
